Ok, I have to say we’ve been pretty bad about posting updates.  But sitting here locked down found me actually starting to organize the photo folders on my computer (yes, it’s come to that!) and I realized that a report on our SD-PV race is long overdue.

The 2020 race was a largely light air event so maybe I was trying to block out some of the massive parking lots we found ourselves in (my therapist says I’m making great progress).  Or maybe since we rolled into the MEXORC regatta literally hours after finishing, I never had the time to mentally digest everything. And we were at sea from March 6 to March 13.  The world was a pretty different place when we made landfall.  Looking at these pictures now makes it feel like a loooong time ago.

Regardless of the reasons, here we go, a photo report from the 2020 San Diego to Puerto Vallarta race aboard J/World’s Cazan with coaches Wayne, Randall, and David, and crew Eric, Douglas, Bjorn, Mike, Lindsey and Bill.  Spoiler:  we got third in class!

 

The team gathers in San Diego for team briefings, boat orientation, and initial coaching.

 

Cazan and the gang in prep mode: packing bags and bags and bags of sails!

 

San Diego Yacht Club send off party.  Looking good in crew gear.  Watch out for the Tequila sampling table!

 

Finally headed south!  The race start up in San Diego Bay, with a tight reach/beat out past Point Loma.  We’ll be in Mexico and passing the Coronado Islands pretty soon….

 

Perfect sailing conditions for a clean exit from California! The race is ON!

 

The 2020 race was a light one.  A bit too much light air reaching, and a couple of really big parking lots.  But even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good!

 

Hmmm…..  I’m going to have to talk to coach Randall about this.  I’m not sure why he’s letting people smile.  It almost looks like we were having fun.

 

A lot of water, out there.  Light air reaching with the A1.  Lindsey showing us how it’s done.  Mike polishing the glasses to get a clearer perspective on things. Randall ignoring me,Bill probably wondering if he could get away with shoving me off the stern.

 

Ok, either Bill got dressed in the dark, or he’s just sleep deprived. Or both.

 

Blue sky and cool colors, and happy sailors.  I dig it.

 

Nav station chaos.  Yeah, the wind instrument is reading 4.2 knots.  Sigh.

 

Still heading South!

 

The one nice thing about a light air race:  it’s amazingly civilized down below!

 

One thousand miles of racing, and here we are, in an early morning struggle to the finish in a drifter, battling it out with another boat.  Good stuff!

 

Puerto Vallarta!!

 

Into Marina Vallarta.  This is a welcome sight.

 

Um, yeah, the big boys were already there.

 

Happy arrival!  Man, that first cold beer tastes nice…

 

The mighty Cazan.  So about 30 minutes after this picture was taken, we headed over to our assigned slip and met our MEXORC crew.  An hour later, we were out practicing for the regatta which was starting the next day with a slightly sleep deprived team of coaches!

 

Team Cazan at the awards ceremony with our hardware for third place.  Well done, team! It was an extremely challenging event given the light and variable conditions which dominated the sailing, but everyone did a fantastic job.  And I can tell you that I had a blast and it was a real pleasure to sail with each and every one of you.  Hasta Pronto!